While Wall Street may be cutting back in some job sectors, Philip Delves Broughton, author of The Art of the Sale: Learning From the Masters About the Business of Life, says that as corporations continue to build global supply chains and marketing machines, operations management will see increasing demand, even if remains low on the sexy meter. In a Businessweek op-ed, he writes:

How many MBA students go to business school eager to learn operations management? It’s one of those subjects, like leadership, that most students suffer through only to wish once they are out in the world that they had paid more attention. But anyone who makes [operations] their focus will have an enormous advantage when they graduate.

While compensation for operations initially lag banking and consulting, they quickly catch up – and shining on the operations team is a highly visible success, he argues, and with fewer MBAs pursing this field, it affords younger managers “a lot more low-hanging fruit … it will set you up brilliantly for whatever comes next.”

Other News:

Raymond James cut 200 jobs as it completed its purchase of Morgan Keegan. [Bloomberg]